Bear Fruits Worthy of Repentance

Have you ever eaten fresh figs? I don’t mean the dried figs that are common in our supermarkets. I mean a fig fresh from the tree, before it’s dried. They are tender, plump, and sweet. They’re very popular along the Mediterranean, which may explain why fig trees were also common in Tucson. We never grew figs while we lived there, but we did have a grapefruit tree, which actually produced grapefruits. Anyone who has a fruit tree of any kind, or grows the vegetables that botanically are fruits – tomatoes, eggplant, pumpkins, for example – knows that you spend a lot of time and effort helping a fruit-bearing tree or vine to flourish. There’s something else about fruits too: they are products of mature plants. Fruit trees have to reach a certain height before they begin bearing. Even when they are tall enough, or the vines are sturdy enough, the plant must bud, flower, and slowly produce the fruit out of its flower. It’s an awe-inspiring process – think about it when, in a few weeks, the trees around here begin to flower. And then remember that all the hard work and patient waiting are worth it, if the tree brings forth luscious figs, juicy grapefruits, or crisp apples.

Fruit is a wonderful spiritual image! It’s no wonder that Jesus chose to use a story about a fig tree to drive home his point about repentance, about being transformed spiritually. In using this image, Jesus was drawing on Hebrew Scripture, reminding his hearers that Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and other prophets had compared the community of Israel to a fruitful plant. Jesus’ hearers might also have remembered that his cousin John the Baptizer had shouted to the crowds who came for baptism, “Bear fruits worthy of repentance …. Even now the axe is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire” (Luke 3:8-9). Now Jesus is on the road to Jerusalem. His cousin is dead. Jesus knows that he himself faces certain execution in Jerusalem. So, as they travel the dusty roads to the south, Jesus begins to give his band of disciples the spiritual tools they will need to carry on without him. Someone poses a question to him about some Galilean rebels killed in a surprise attack by Pilate’s soldiers: a sad but commonplace incident under Roman rule. While his disciples might be tempted to think that those people got what they deserved, Jesus says, “No, that is not how God’s economy works.” Rather, he reminds them that none of them knows when their lives will end, nor whether they will end peacefully or violently. And so, they must earnestly engage in continued reflection, self-examination, and, where necessary, change of life.

But that’s not the end of the story. In that strange little parable about a fig tree that doesn’t bear fruit Jesus offers his disciples a word of grace. He reminds them that, even if they have been unproductive fig trees, God never gives them what they deserve. God does not abandon them or cut them down, as human rulers do. Rather, like the gardener, God always gives them a second chance. God is always willing to be patient, take extra care, or offer richer nourishment, so that they may bear the fruit they were created to bear, so that they might indeed mature into plants producing luscious figs, juicy grapefruit, crisp apples, cherries, tomatoes, or any one of millions of other fruits.

Is Jesus speaking the same words to us? On Ash Wednesday, at the beginning of the church’s retreat in the wilderness, we accepted the challenge to keep a holy Lent through engaging in self-examination and repentance. You remember that the word that gets translated as “repentance” is metanoia, which means change of direction. Certainly acknowledging all the ways in which we miss the mark is necessary for our spiritual health,. However, in Lent, we are not called to manufacture sins – which we then “confess” to God. Rather, we are called to assess our lives, to examine how we are living, how we are spending our money, with whom we are associating, what we are returning to the community, and to ponder where change of direction might be needed.

Perhaps you are struggling at home. Perhaps you hate your job. Perhaps the teens are trying to figure out what kind of life they are supposed to live. Perhaps the seniors wonder if the psalmist was really right in declaring, “They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green” (Ps.92:14). Perhaps some are wondering whether, after the wreck they have made of their lives, God could still love them.

Lent is truly the time to ask ourselves, “Where should I be bearing fruit in my life?” What fruits might God want to see us bear? For what help might we ask God, in our desire to bear richer fruit? In his letter to the contentious Christians in Galatia, Paul reminds them and us that “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” If you need a standard by which to examine your life, Galatians 5:22-23 would be a good place to start. We might also ask ourselves what fruits of ministry God might expect us to bear. Are you serving the church in any way? Praying for our parish and regularly attending worship is an important part of our ministry as Christians. Growing spiritually through prayer and formation is also part of our ministry, as is actively serving those who come through our doors. And we might ask ourselves, what fruits of service to the wider world God expects of us. Are you working in any way for a more just world, are you helping to alleviate hunger, are you part of the effort to enact sane gun laws, wider healthcare access, more effective immigration policies, appropriate aid to overseas churches and organizations? Finally, are we emulating our master in living an open and generous life, welcoming, indeed embracing, all whom we meet?

We might ask ourselves similar questions as a parish. Indeed, the fig tree is a collective image, often used in the Hebrew Scriptures to refer to Israel. What kind of fig tree are we as a parish? Are we bearing the fruit that God intends? Or do we need to pray for more help? If you are worried about the survival of St. Peter’s, are you praying that God will continue to give us a second chance, showing us how we must change?

You don’t think it’s possible to change your life? Then hear the story of Genelle Guzman-McMillan, the very last person to be rescued from the destruction of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.1 Though her right leg was crushed, Genelle received a second chance at life. Genelle had been living with her boyfriend Roger and spending her life working and going to dance clubs. She and Roger, who had been raised in church-going families, seldom awakened early enough on Sunday morning to consider attending church. Something happened to Genelle while she lay under the rubble of the Trade Center for twenty-six hours: she began to pray. She had visions of God and angels. When she awoke from sleep, she prayed some more, gradually feeling at peace. Arising again from sleep, she heard voices and knew that she was being rescued.

A few hours later in her hospital bed, Genelle told Roger of her experiences. She didn’t have a clear sense of direction, but she knew she needed to change her life. She told Roger that they needed to get married, and that they would attend the Brooklyn Tabernacle. Roger agreed, and they began planning a wedding. Genelle knows that her experience in the rubble truly transformed her. She cares much less than before about money or looking good. She refused to participate in the suits brought by other survivors. And she radiates a deep sense of peace. The designer of her wedding gown said that, “My main impression of her is really just how calm she is. You would never guess what she had been through.”

All of us have faced tragedy in our lives, but God willing, none of us will lie under rubble for twenty-six hours. Even so, God continues to give us second chances, continues to stand with us as we ponder how we might amend our lives, continues to offer us people who support us in the changes we see that we need to make. By God’s grace, this parish might be a place where we bear one another’s burdens, and where those who seek to amend their lives might be welcomed and encouraged.

“Bear fruits worthy of repentance.” Let God tend to you. By God’s grace, and with God’s help, our lives will bring forth good fruit, luscious, juicy, crisp, beautiful fruit.

1. The following is based on Lectionary Tales for the Pulpit, Series V, Year C (Lima: CSS, 2006), pp. 68ff. This chapter is based on John Cloud, “A Miracle’s Cost,” Time magazine, September 9, 2002.